• Lactose
• Lactose intolerance
• Diagnosis
• Food advice in the case of lactose intolerance

Lactose is a disaccharide consisting of glucose and galactose. Lactose is the sugar that occurs in cow's milk, and is only found in milk and dairy products including breast and cow’s milk as well as that of other mammals. For this reason lactose is often known as “milk sugar”. 100 ml of cow's milk contains approximately 5 grams of lactose.

When ingested, lactose is normally broken down in the small intestine by the enzyme lactase into its absorbable mono-saccharides (glucose and galactose). Lactase is produced by the enterocytes, mainly in the jejunum, which is the latter part of the small intestine.